The Bible makes a big deal about covenants. A search of the word “covenant” in the English Standard Version produces 319 results in 295 verses, so my Logos Bible Study software informs me. 

Reformed Baptists, like our Reformed Presbyterian brethren, have seen covenant theology as essential to understanding the teaching of Scripture. Walter Chantry writes, “It is difficult to know who was the first to call the doctrine of the covenants ‘the marrow of divinity’ (or theology), but it is a most appropriate observation. Without bones the human body would be an unshaped glob of flesh. Without theology the ideas of Scripture would lie in an unshaped mass. Marrow is at the center of the bones which shape our body, and marrow gives health to the body,. So the doctrine of the covenants is at the core of theology, and the health of any theological system depends on its understanding  of this truth. It would be nearly impossible to overstate the central importance of the biblical teaching of the covenants” (Walter J. Chantry, “The Covenants of Work and of Grace,” Covenant Theology: A Baptist Distinctive, ed. by Earl M. Blackburn [Solid Ground Christian Books, Pelham, AL, 2013] 89).

So . . . what is a covenant? “Covenant” is often defined as a contract or an agreement, and, in general terms, that is true. A man and a woman marry each other. They enter into a covenant. There are obligations and responsibilities on both sides of the agreement. 

A divine covenant between God and man, however, is a great deal more than a human-to-human agreement. To begin with, the two parties are not equals; one is the superior and the other is the inferior. Also, the inferior has no standing to arbitrate the terms of the covenant. The sovereign God of the universe dictates the terms of his covenant. Earl Blackburn puts it this way: “Though there is much discussion of the definition of a covenant, a divine covenant denotes a solemn arrangement divinely imposed, which places binding obligations upon the parties of the covenant. It is in this way that salvation is worked out in human history” (Earl M. Blackburn, “Covenant Theology Simplified,” Covenant Theology: A Baptist Distinctive, 17).

In his helpful introduction to covenant theology, Pastor Blackburn notes that covenant theology “can be reduced to three basic divisions: the first division is the Covenant of Redemption, which refers to the intratrinitarian agreement made before the world began in heaven among the members of the Godhead (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to save elect sinners by grace alone. . . . Although it is not mentioned first in Bible chronology, it is inferred and taught throughout the OT and NT as being foundational for all that takes place in redemptive history. The Covenant of Redemption is the chief and greatest of all God’s Covenants” (Covenant Theology, 25). Many passages are offered for support, such as Psalm 2:6-8, Isaiah 42:5-7, and 1 Peter 1:18-21.

Blackburn explains that the second division of the covenants is “the Covenant of Works, which teaches the universal sinfulness and guilt of humanity and the urgent need for redemption” (Covenant Theology, 25). God created Adam and Eve, placing them in the Garden of Eden in order to tend and keep it. They had a moral obligation to obey God in every instance. Blackburn notes that “God constituted Adam as the natural head of all humanity. He was put into and  under a probationary Covenant of Works, in which God promised that obedience would be rewarded with blessing and eternal life, and disobedience would be punished with curse and eternal death (Genesis 2:7-17)” (Covenant Theology, 31). We find in Genesis 3 that Adam dramatically fell from his privileged position, taking humanity with him in the Fall of man.

The third division is the “Covenant of Grace, which is the revelation and outworking of the Covenant of Redemption on earth in time and history. It, too, is based upon free grace alone and flows from the Covenant of Redemption. It is an overarching covenant, worked out in time through a series of subordinate covenants (administrations), starting with Adam (Genesis 3:15, 21), finding its pinnacle with the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:7-13), and culminating in eternal glory in heaven” (Covenant Theology, 25-26).